Embera Flameheart's Arc

Chapter 3 of 4

Embera walked until the path opened into a quiet clearing. A stone altar sat there, mossy and bright with set jewels. Beside it stood a metal statue of a coiled serpent with blue wings. This was the spot. The Serpent had carved her mark here on purpose. Embera circled the altar, claws tapping stone. The offer felt too easy. She didn't know who the Azure Winged Serpent really was, or whose sister she'd just crossed. Saying yes blind could drop her into a fight she couldn't win. Her tail lashed. She hated waiting. She hated guessing more. She followed faint claw marks past the clearing to a door tucked into a mossy hill. The wooden door of a hidden bunker. Embera knocked once, hard. The Serpent opened it, unsurprised. "Before I take your offer," Embera said, "tell me who your sister is, and what taking your hand costs me." The Serpent's smile thinned. She told her. Embera's stomach dropped — the silver woman, the prince's lover, was kin to this one. "Still in?" the Serpent asked. Embera breathed out slow. "I'm in," she said, "but with eyes open, not blind." The Serpent nodded and shut the door behind them. The deal was sealed on Embera's terms. She'd traded a blind risk for a known one — and bound herself to a family she'd already wounded.